Flare pipes that burn at their tip end waste gases or other inflammables are required to be of greater height than in previous years in order to minimize any adverse effect of the heat and radiation upon personnel and equipment. Flare pipes of 300 feet or more are frequently required and their construction has posed serious problems for those in the industry.
Typically, flare pipe towers in the past have been tubular, welded one piece constructed section by section by being built from the ground or platform upwardly as each section is placed on top of the previous section. As is readily understood because of the height requirement for flare pipe towers, the crane required to raise the top most sections must itself be well over 300 feet making the construction very difficult if not impossible because of the expensive requirements of such a high crane and particularly when such a flare tower is to be installed in less than easily accessible places such as offshore. The flare pipe tower as understood must be usable either offshore on a platform or deck or on land where the flare pipe tower is resting on a base or other support.